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Setting up and keeping aquariums |
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How to set up and keep aquariums
How to set up and keep your first aquarium. From what kind of fish to what to feed them.
Even if you are only a beginner, you can have a successful aquarium in your home. You can have crystal-clear water, beautiful plants, and colorful fish. There are a few things that you will have to know to keep your aquarium. If you teach them and follow them, you will be able to avoid the mistakes that people often make when they first set up their aquarium.
It is best to buy a rectangular tank that is at the very most three inches higher than it is wide. Tall narrow tanks are not good because there is too little water surface open to the air. A wider tank has more open water surface, and the water can take in more oxygen. This is important for the health of your fish. The water takes in oxygen from the air, and the fish breathe in the oxygen through their gills. Fish give off a gas that is called carbon dioxide, just as a human does when they breathe. The carbon dioxide given off by the fish must escape into the air through the surface water. If it does not the fish will suffocate.
It is important to keep all metal out of your fish tank. The slightest bit of metal in the water can be poisonous to your fish. Paints, soaps, and certain plastics and chemicals must also be kept from the tank. Limestone products such as marble chips, seashells, coral, and coral sand, should also be avoided. These can dissolve and make the water too hard for your fish. The best minerals for use in your aquarium are quartz, sandstone, and granite.
For protection, a glass cover should be kept over the tank. Do not worry about it cutting off the oxygen supply to the tank, because no cover fits so tight that it will keep out the necessary amount of air.
Finding the correct location for the tank is also very important. An aquarium should not stand in a drafty spot or near a radiator. Sudden changes in temperature can be bad for your fish.
Direct sunlight should be avoided except for maybe short periods of time. Artificial lighting is just as good for the fish as daylight. Too much light will encourage the growth of algae, which will turn the water green. Too much direct sunlight can also overheat the water.
The gravel, water, and plants put in your tank are all very important to the health of the fish and to the looks of your aquarium.
Gravel or sand is not necessary except if you are using rooted plants. It does make for a more natural looking setting for the fish. Your gravel should not be much bigger than bird gravel. Too fine a sand will pack too tightly and will hold back on the growth of your plants. If you do use gravel, make sure that you give it a good washing before putting into your aquarium.
The most important element of an aquarium is the water, and unless it is kept in good condition, neither the fish nor the plants will survive. The best water for fish is water in which they have already lived. This is called "conditioned" water.
Fish are different from your other animals in this respect. The living quarters for your other pets must be cleaned on a regular basis. However, the water in a standing fish tank need not be changed. The waste products of the fish make the water better for them to live in.
People who have aquariums will tell you about two kinds of dirt in a tank. There is clean dirt and dirty dirt. Clean dirt is the waste products of the fish. This does not need to be removed. Dirty dirt means the uneaten food and the bodies of fish that may have died. These kinds of things need to be removed.
Beginners will have to start with plain tap water. Letting the water stand until it comes to room temperature will get rid of any chlorine that may have been added to the water to purify it. Chlorine is very harmful to fish. Your fish may be added as soon as the water in the tank does come to room temperature. At first the water may look a little cloudy, but this is normal for a new tank. If you feed your fish very sparingly for the first two weeks, this should clear up and remain clear.
Plants are important in an aquarium, but not as important as many people would have you to believe. Plants do not provide the fish will all the oxygen that they need. In spite of everything that you may have heard, fish do very well without the plants.
Plants add oxygen to the water and use up carbon dioxide only when they are actively making food. Green plants will make their won food by taking in the carbon dioxide and then changing it chemically so that they are able to use it.
Underwater plants do add a great deal of beauty to your aquarium. The plants will grow in the water to make a more natural surrounding for your fish. The fish can hide in the leaves of the plants and love to lay their eggs here. Also, a well planted aquarium is less likely to develop green water.
More fish die from overfeeding than from any other cause. Your other pets may need to be fed everyday, but your fish do not. If you do feed them every day, uneaten food will accumulate in the tank. It will then blacken the sand a produce gases and other poisons that are harmful to you fish. Most fish can go a week without you feeding them because the will eat the microscopic plants and animals that naturally live in an aquarium.
Fish should only be fed three times a week. A single feeding should only give them the amount of food that they can eat in then minutes. You can judge this by putting the food on the flat part of a toothpick and then giving to the fish. Do not give them anymore unless and until they have eaten that all gone.
You can add snails or catfish to your tank to act as scavengers. Remember, though, that even they cannot clean up a tank that is continually being over fed.
When you are feeding your fish you should remember to use several different kinds of food. Along with the dried foods that are already packaged, you should add some finely chopped raw lean meat, liver, shrimp, clams, yolk of a hard-boiled egg, and maybe some fresh lettuce. Tropical fish and many other kinds that can be found in colder waters will really like these foods.
Your fish will also enjoy some live foods such as Daphnia (water flies), Tubifex (red worms), and Enchtraeids (white worms).
Before you set out to buy your fish, it will be important to understand that some of them can only live in water that is kept at a certain temperature. Many tropical fish must be kept at a temperature that ranges from 72 to 80 degrees. Some of these fish will require you to have and electric heater with a thermostat to help control the water temperature.
Goldfish usually to not need any type of temperature control. Sunfish, catfish, sticklebacks, and gars do not either. You must be careful that they do not have any sudden and drastic changes in temperature though.
When buying fish for the fist time, it is best to get some that are less expensive. A guppy, which is a small tropical fish, would most likely be a good start. It is a colorful and strong fish that does not need any specially treated water.
Other strong fish that are not quite as sturdy as the guppy are: platies, black mollies, and swordfish. Tetras, cory cats, siamese fighting fish, and angelfish are also good for the beginners.
Be sure that your tank is big enough for the number of fish that you want to keep in it. Next to over feeding the fish, overcrowding is the next biggest problem. When a fish comes to the top of the tank gasping it is a good sign of overcrowding. For goldfish a safe measure would be 2 gallons of water for each inch of fish.
When one of your fish starts to act like there is something wrong with it, it should be put into a small tank by itself. That way you can prevent your other fish from becoming sick. One of the most common diseases that your fish will get is ichthyophthirius or "ich" for short. This is very noticeable by the white spots that it will give your fish. It is hard to cure a fish and you must be careful when buying to make sure that you do not bring home an infected fish.
If you follow these few simple instructions, you should be able to start your own successful aquarium at home. You can have many good times watching your fish swim lazily or darting about your tank. The peace and enjoyment that they will bring will be well worth any troubles you may have at startup.
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